Windy City Gridiron

A Backfield Package for the Bears?

GallopingGhost — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:17:00 -0000

OK This NFL.com writer talks about the how the Saints use Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister in packages because ones a in between the tackles runner and ones the speed guy.

I want to know what you guys think about maybe the Bears trying this somehow; maybe with a Benson-Forte backfield or a Wolfe-Benson or even a Wolfe-Forte package. Wolfe has speed and catches the ball well and Forte has some speed and he seems to catch well or so we hear. Could Turner fathom something like this?

Why not? Thoughts?

A Good News Story For A Change

rob in iraq — Sat, 10 May 2008 08:19:48 -0000

I thought it might be a nice change to have something about a Bear doing something good instead of something bad. What Tommie Harris has done for the town of Killeen, Texas hits “home” with me because I was stationed at Fort Hood (which is right next to Killeen) for seven years and I’m quite familiar with the area.

Military children have a rough time growing up, as Tommie Harris probably knows all too well, due to frequent moves and a parent’s (sometimes both) frequent absence because of deployments. So when I read about a PRO athlete, regardless of what team they play for, contributing time and/or funding to improve the morale and quality of life for a military member and their family it just gives me a greater respect for that player.

Visits from PRO athletes, like Tommie Harris, in war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan make a world of difference for the Soldiers deployed there. It is not an easy trip to make and the conditions for their stay are far removed from what they are probably accustomed to. They’ll also make numerous stops, risking their own safety traveling on helicopters through not so friendly skies to see as many service members as possible. So my hat off to Tommie Harris and all the athletes that take the time and effort to improve the morale of service members and their families. Story is on the Bear's official site if the link doesn't work:

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4681

in defense of Benson

lopey986 — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:17:26 -0000

Yahoo! Sports usually does (i believe) weekly reports on every team in the NFL, this weeks Bears Report centered mainly on Benson and how the Bears should react to his recent misdemeanors. A little bit of the article and the link below.

And Benson is not a repeat offender in the NFL, although he was arrested for trespassing in college five years ago when he attempted to recover a TV set that had been stolen from him.

And my favorite part of the article...

If the Bears canned every player and coach who didn’t get the job done last season, they could print their roster on a matchbook cover.

Benson's cap situation explained! With math!

tomas21 — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:33:53 -0000

Brad Briggs recently ran an article in his blog about Benson's cap situation making it imposssible for the Bears to cut Benson.

He's wrong.

Here are the true ramifications. This is a somewhat long explanation, and it involves math, so be warned. But you'll understand the cap and the Benson situaiton better if you read it.

First, you must understand the difference between cap number and cap hit, as well as cap dollars and payroll dollars.

Benson's cap number this year is roughly $3.3M. That is comprised of this year's salary (800k) and the prorated portion of his signing bonus (2.5M). Note that he already has the signing bonus, it is just accounted for this year for bookkeeping purposes. So if he plays for the Bears this year, they'll write him a check for 800k (not 3.3M).

If the Bears cut Benson, they would not have to pay him his salary this year (800k) or next year (1M), AND that money would be removed from Benson's cap number. However, they would still have to account for his prorated signing bonus (2.5M this year and next) for cap purposes.

So, if the Bears cut Benson before June 1st, his cap number would be 3.3M MINUS this year's salary (800k) PLUS next year's portion of his signing bonus (2.5M), for a total of 5M. That is 1.7M more than his current cap number of 3.3M, which means cutting Benson costs the Bears a 1.7M cap hit this year. So if they currently have 16M in cap room, that would shrink down to 14.3M.

HOWEVER!!! and this is important, they would GAIN 3.5M in cap room next year. Because Benson would be officially off the Bears books for 2009, they would not have to account for his singing bonus or salary, which amount to 3.5M next year.

That's just the cap consequences. Cutting Benson would also save the Bears actual dollars. The salary cap is a managed number, and is often very different than the team's payroll (the checks the team writes out to players that year). If the Bears cut Benson, they wouldn't have to pay him a salary this year or next (a total of 1.8M), and they wouldn't have to potentially pay him any of the escalators in his contract for reaching 700 yards (potentially another 3 or 4M. So cutting Benson would save the team actual dollars, with no penalty.

The last point Briggs makes is that if the Bears cut Benson he could file an injury grievance. I believe this is unlikely for a few reasons. First, they would wait until he could pass a physical to cut him, thereby removing his leverage from the situation. Second, this public incident gives the Bears another reason to give for cutting him. Third, he is too young to retire, and he'd have to retire if he wanted to convince an arbiter that the Bears cut him because he was too injured to play. Lastly, even if the Bears lost the case, they would only be out his salary this year of 800k.

How to Make Deep Threads Load a Lot Quicker

tyger1147 — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:07:08 -0000

1. Click on your UserID at the top of the screen to access settings.

2. Click on "Edit Settings" towards the top right.

3. Go to the Default Comment Format that probably says "expanded"

4. Change it to "closed"

5. Click "Update" at the bottom of the menu to save your changes.

This way, when you open up a thread that has new comments, only the Subject and the "by-line" show up. To get the rest of the comment, you simply click on the bolded subject. (Note: you may click on the subject and sometimes nothing happens-this is because the user only typed something in the subject and not in the text box.)

On BlogaBull, for fun, I let FasterFox time the loading for a huge 447 comment thread.

Time to load:

Expanded comments, Avatar shown: 153.3 seconds

Expanded comments, No avatars shown: 109.7 seconds

Closed comments, Avatar shown: 15.8 seconds

Closed comments, No avatars shown: 15.2 seconds

As you can see, this has significantly reduced loading time. For me, the 400+ comments in the last thread took about 1min30 sec the old way, but only around 15 secs. this way. Hope it helps.

Mocking The Draft Breakdown

WCG — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:22:43 -0000

MTD and WCG have had a bumpy start when the whole selection of Rashard Mendenhall and their draft grade of an F, but they see quite a lot of good in the Bears actual draft .

Pick 70: WR Earl Bennett, Vanderbilt (Scouting Report)
Scout It: Bennett left Vanderbilt as the SEC's all time leading receiver. His production cannot be ignored. He is a good sized receiver with amazing hands and consistency. He was my favorite receiver in the entire 2008 NFL Draft class. Bennett's combination of athleticism, agility and pass catching will make him an early favorite to win the #1 job in Chicago. The Bears lost their deep threat when Bernard Berrian signed in Minnesota, Bennett will give them a vertical player opposite Rashied Davis, and could move either Marty Booker or Mark Bradley to a third receiver position. This will also free up Devin Hester, should be improve greatly, to play more in the slot.

Bears Release Adam Archuleta

WCG — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:24:00 -0000

Perhaps the Bears like rookie safety Craig Steltz more than they let on. Today they might have helped pave his way to a starting job.

The Bears have released safety Adam Archuleta .

With the Bears, Archuleta struggled in run support and pass coverage. He broke his hand in a Week 3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, sat out one game, and then returned the following week. He eventually lost his starting job in late November to Brandon McGowan.

In his lone season in Chicago, Archuleta failed to revert to the form he displayed in St. Louis when Bears coach Lovie Smith and defensive coordinator Bob Babich were Rams assistants.

After an absolutely horrible season last year, the only thing that might have saved his spot was if the Bears could not find somebody they thought could come in and start. Between Danieal Manning, Mike Brown, Kevin Payne and Craig Steltz they must have decided they had the guns to do so.

Archeleta, Goodbye!

#23 — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:26:10 -0000

Now I know we have a show to be great on defense.

The Bears on Tuesday released Adam Archuleta . Playing in 14 games with 10 starts in 2007, the veteran safety registered 63 tackles, two sacks, one interception and one forced fumble.

This was one of our worst mistakes last year. Moose is gone, Arch is gone, Fred Miller is gone, the only guy I still want them to cut is Ricky Mannning Jr. Wow, what an offseason!

Editors Note:

I actually kind of regret the way I titled this, so I changed it. The reason being I didn't think the guy played well for us, but I think that he played hard and did the best he could. He also appears to be a real decent guy. My apologies if he read this. I was really rooting for him when he got here.

More Details from Benson's Arrest

GallopingGhost — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:55:10 -0000

According to this ESPN.com article , the police officer who arrested Benson said that he appeared drunk, was combative and was "cocky"

Sgt. Leonard Snyder, who sprayed and arrested Benson, wrote in his report that he believed Benson was intoxicated because he was "combative," "cocky," "insulting," and used "profanity," and at other times was "crying" and "cooperative."

So now its a real case of he said-he said and the truth may never be found. Who is more credible though? A Bears player who has had a sense of entitlement and seems to have an air about him or some cop who works hard and might want some recognition?

Is Harrison a Thug?

#23 — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:03:14 -0000

I read this article today and it definitely made our new DT, Marcus Harrison , look like a changed man. It seems like he is a religious guy who hit a low in his life. It is hard to say if it is just a writer with a bias or real journalism, but the article does share more details of the event and Harrison's perspective.

According to a Fayetteville police report, Harrison stopped at a gas station and bought drugs from a man he had never met, he later admitted.

When police pulled over Harrison a few minutes later for speeding, they smelled marijuana smoke as he rolled down the window of his gray Chevy Caprice.

An officer asked Harrison to step out of the vehicle, and a search of the car revealed two cigars under the seat containing a total of two grams of marijuana. When an officer asked Harrison if he had anything else illegal on him, he volunteered that he had a blue pill wrapped in a plastic bag in the right cargo pocket of his pants.

The pill was Ecstasy, a synthetic drug popular on the college party scene.

"Once I saw the lights on behind me, it wasn't like I was going to lie to police or anyone," Harrison recalled. "I knew I had made a mistake, so I told them up front where [the drugs] were."

When asked is he knew about Tank Johnson's history with the Bears:

"I know all about Tank and I respect him as a player, I respect him as a person, but I'm not Tank Johnson," Harrison said. "The one thing Chicago won't have to worry about is me getting into trouble. That was a one-time thing.

You have to give the guy credit for being honest. The article also mentioned his religious and military family background.

Is Deuce McAllister More Your Speed?

WCG — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:56:03 -0000

So rumor has it that the New Orleans Saints are interested in Shaun Alexander. With the running corp they have I have no idea why, but apparently they are. Moreover it is expected that if Alexander is brought aboard that could be the end of Deuce McAllister's stay in New Orleans.

McAllister is injury prone, but when he is upright he can be one hell of a back. You can work a deal based on playing time to get around potential injury issues.

If the Bears decide it is time to ship out Benson, would you be interested in looking at McAllister?

Rashard Not Having A Good Start

#23 — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:37:22 -0000

I was beginning to think the whole hamstring thing was rumor unitl I read this. Man you got to feel for the kid. It hasn't been a very good start to his career.

Tough weekend for Pittsburgh first-round draft pick Rashard Mendenhall .

On Friday, during his second practice with the Steelers, Mendenhall tweaked his hamstring badly enough that he was out of action the rest of the weekend.

On Sunday night, Mendenhall flew back to Chicago and returned home to the South Side of the city –- where he was robbed at gunpoint on Monday.

Two men wearking ski masks and hoods pulled a gun on Mendenhall and told him to give them everything he had -– or else. Mendenhall gave the men his wallet, cell phone and car keys. The men returned the car keys, and Mendenhall escaped unscathed.

No arrests have been made

Cedric Benson Arrested!

big_lowitzki — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:31:28 -0000

Former Longhorn arrested

Former Longhorn Cedric Benson was arrested Saturday evening by officers with the Texas Park and Wildlife and Lower Colorado River Association. Benson is out on a $14,500 bail. Benson was arrested for boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

Fun times. Do you think he realizes that the Bears drafted a running back in the second round?

WCG: This just further points to Cedric Benson's horrible and lackadaisical attitude. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are, he believes he is untouchable and never has anything to worry about. He has always has a sense of entitlement and while I don't know what the Bears will do, I have to imagine they have at least considered trading or cutting him.

First Day of Camp

bs1220 — Sat, 03 May 2008 04:46:27 -0000

Chicago Tribune

This is some observations about the first day of the Bears' rookie camp. It appears Forte is ready to push Benson (out of the way?) right now and Hanie has taken a slight lead in the race with Hill for the third string QB slot. The article says he showed off the big arm and was more accurate than Hill. Game on. Go Hanie go!

NOTE: you may have to go to the wide view to get the whole url.

Why To Start Kyle?

#23 — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:28:08 -0000

Ok, Bears fans it is time to get innovative. We have two QB's with different skill sets. Kyle Orton will protect the ball and Rex can give you big points. It is so obvious. Start Kyle Orton the first half of every game. See how the defense does. If it is a low scoring game or we have the lead, then keep Kyle in there. If we get behind, yank Orton and throw in I'm going deep Orton. Let him wing that ball all over the place. Give him 4 wide receiver sets, let him call the plays at the line of scrimmage. Run 40% of the time and see if Rex can out score the other team. I know I should be an offensive coordinator. I would line Tommy Harris behind center on every third and one. Have you seen how fast that guy jumps the snap. He would be three yards down the field before anyone even moved.

Get To Know The Cover 2

WCG — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:29:59 -0000

Over at Mile High Report , they have a section which is basically Football 101. They look at different schemes and plays. They have recently covered the Cover 2 starting with it's history and leading up to the Tampa 2.

Since it applies, I thought you might be interested in giving it a read.

The original C2 was used to defuse timing offenses. As QBs became more adept at the deeper intricacies being brought to football, more and more offenses relied on finesse. Offenses started spreading the field, and the original defense player types in the NFL (geared towards stopping the run) were unable to keep up with the new emphasis on passing that began to take hold in the 1960's. Teams running the C2 used the system regardless of the formation on the field. It was run out of 4-3, 3-4, and the several nickle packages.

The bears need to stop looking for a world beater

leopoldjones — Thu, 01 May 2008 06:10:56 -0000

We need to face facts the bears are probably never going to have a peyton manning or tom brady type qb. The bears have been looking for a franchise qb for as long as I have been alive. We should change our focus and bring in someone who is going to stabilize the position, someone who is above average but not going to turn any heads, somebody like jake plummer (not advocating we go and get jake the snake). The only player I can think of that could fit that bill would be, all but forgotten buccaneer chris simms, he is good not great, and I think would be perfect as the bears signal caller. I know he hasnt played in like two years but he is an upgrade over ortman.

Brandon Lloyd: Football Player, Illini, rapper?

thecoolest — Thu, 01 May 2008 01:03:05 -0000

File this one under the "random" category:

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/07/30/brandon-lloyd-raps-im-like-no-other/

Thanks to Hog Haven for the link.

I need more words. I need more words. I need more words. I need more words. I need more words. I need more words. I need more words. I need more words. I need more words. I need more words. I need more words. I need more words.

Get Rid of the Gay Ads!!!

#23 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:47:36 -0000

SB Nation, Windy City Gridiron... you have to be kidding me? I go to see if my fanpost posted and right above it I see Gay Chubby Dating ads on our site. Are you serious? Get this crap off the site. Have some gonads and don't sell out to anyone throwing some money around. This is a sports sanctuary not a den of thieves. Make some money for what you do, but don't prostitute yourself to the world. Sell me a TV or best buy or a cell phone, but not a dude. That's sick.

Poll

Do you like seeing ads for Gay Chubby Dating?

Why Not To Draft A QB... Yet

#23 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:26:50 -0000

I'm all for drafting a QB, but not until there is a line that is ready. Why waste the pick unless the guy in like a Peyton Manning or Carson Palmer coming out of college that you rarely have the opportunity to grab from a draft. Almost every year there are Henne's & Flacco's & Brohms you can draft. QB first rounders, second rounders, third and so on are so unpredictable. Just because you draft one doesn't even mean the guy will be valuable to the team.

The reasons you draft QB are this:
- Your offense has an above average receiving corp and a solid line
- There is a once every 3-5 years QB available
- You have a pick to spare
- A QB has slid so far that there is a huge value pick available

None of these were our situation. Bears scouts felt these guys were all mediocre which to me says, they aren't real confident the guys will be valuable short or long term to our team. On the contrary the guys we picked up instead of a QB in rounds 2-4, they feel will make it and play right away and even start in this year or next.

This draft scenario may have been the only one that would improve our team as dramatically as it did for this year. Had we taken RB in round one, like Mendenhall (whom I love), chances are that we would have missed out on OL who would start from day 1. In round two it was either QB on the bench or RB on the field. We could not afford another 3.4 ypr next year. These two pics were the only scenario where we draft potential starters this year for both positions. Round 3 we drafted a receiver who will strongly increase competition at the position and has a good possibility of becoming a starter this year or next. In this round we also strengthened depth at DT. This guy as many of you know is first round talent that we picked up late in the 3rd. I think the Bears believe they have learned enough from the Tank situation that they can put in an accountability system that will keep this guy out of trouble. Everyone here knows that this is still a risk, but if the guy is that good, late third round is a place to take that risk. The fourth round is where the Bears had the biggest decision to make at QB. Here Angelo mentioned someone he felt he could have taken there, which had to be Booty. Instead,

Grossman and Orton both will be better QB's with a better line. If you really broke down what happened on most of the offensive plays last year you will see that QB's were getting hit often and very quickly. Nearly all of Grossman's bad stats last year came from the first three games of the season where he was outright pummeled by defense lineman. On top of that he also didn't get any run support and his receivers were dropping touchdown passes. That will hurt you. In his return, he was hit, half as much and looked dramatically better. The stats looked ordinary, but if you look at the plays one at a time, Grossman was decisive, accurate, and protected the ball very well. I was very impressed with his ability to zing the ball into the flats so quickly and accurately. The one big concern was his lack of pocket presence. He was aweful in that category. A good line will help and that is a trait that still can develops with time and consistency at OL.

Orton also did some good things. His arm looked stronger. He moved well in the pocket. He made some clutch throws and did an excellent job of protecting the ball. Some of the areas that were a concern with him started with accuracy. He still had a tendency to miss a guy by a lot from time-to-time. He also tended to lock in on one receiver from the snap. This is something should improve with more playing time and confidence. He also needs to work hard on throwing the out route in the flat. His ball took an ion to get there and will be picked off for TD's if it doesn't improve.

Yet is the key word. This year we will make final decisions on both Rex & Kyle. If one of them plays exceedingly well, we may not even be looking for a starter next year and will have a veteran QB. If neither is cut out for the job, here's what else we will know. Benson will have his last chance to prove himself with hopefully (fingers crossed) and improved line. Should he fail, we have a good plan B in Forte. We also have a lot of receivers competing for 2 or 3 spots. One of those is Devin Hester who could be ready to be a full-time starter by the end of the year. Throw in a pair of excellent TE and one of our wild card WR's (Booker, Bennet, Davis, or Lloyd) surprising us and you have a decent WR group. This year we have the chance to become a decent OL, a decent WR group, and maybe a team that can run the ball again. This is the type of offense that is ready draft a QB. We also could sign an average proven free agent QB (great QB's never make it to FA), or trade for a QB.

The Bears Are Back Now! With the defensive talent we already had, we really only need an average offense to make another run. Even with a battered secondary and DT group and 28th defensive rank, we still were only one game below .500 for the year (7-9). Depth to DT and safety were the keys to us returning to a top 10 defensive club or better. Plus, we not only added depth, but I believe we struck gold at those positions.

On offense I expect the offensive line to be improved some, maybe a lot, but definitely some. This should help the QB play and the running game. The running game will be better this year by default because they can't be worse. WR is going to be a curious group, but there are plenty of guys with the potential that you hope someone jumps up and becomes a quality player. Really I think we need about 20 points a week from this team and Hester on returns and our defense should help this offense do it.

Why not to draft a QB... Yet?
- Because we can compete this year.
- Rex or Kyle may break out this year (neither had a fair shake last year with time in the pocket, a respectable running game, WR's that played hard, ran the correct routes, or even caught the ball, or a decent offensive coordinator).
- A rookie QB wouldn't have an offensive group that he would even be able to succeed with this year or next year. Get the group ready first and let a vet go through the hard times, then give a young guy a shot with a solid group of players.